The Latest in Latino Entertainment News

Pau Brunet

By

2010/06/07 at 12:00am

Monday Box Office: ‘Shrek 4’, three’s a charm

06.7.2010 | By |

Monday Box Office: 'Shrek 4', three's a charm

This week come to the screen four strong releases but none with options to reach the first position, a position he has held comfortably Shrek Forever After. In the third week introduced the lowest down top10, 41%, and totals $ 25M and a total of $ 183M. The film has surprised this week to present a slight decrease just as a kind of negative weekend in general. This track has been negative for the other two options segment, Prince of Persia and Marmaduke. Now Shrek has just enough time to take advantage of the stretch, because in some great competitor will Toy Story 3. Word of mouth from the Dreamworks movie not made of steel and therefore it is easy to think that will be very weak before the Disney film.

On their own, Prince of Persia falls more than expected, 53% to $ 13.9 M and even below the 60M in the U.S., while Marmaduke has raised only $ 11.3 M despite leaving with more than 3,200 cinemas . The film has lacked some bad data matching The spy next door or Furry Vengeance. The promotion was colorful but not spectacular and this may translate into a little hold up the $ 25-27M.

Of the premieres this week, more strongly shining were the two comedies, Get him to the Greek and Killers, and both are what have been the best results. The first complies with the long awaited, $ 17.4 M in 2.697 theaters with an average of $ 6.400, the second is placed in the $ 16.1 M, slightly higher than previously thought and much better than expected with Friday’s data . With 2.859 copies, his average is placed in a room right $ 5,600.

Get him to the Greek achieves a success because it has been successful to be a decent offer from sector 20 to 35 years pro-comedies like thugs as Role Models or Forgetting Sarah Marshall. The film of “colleagues” did not have much competition in this bulletin and this has become strong, based on a correct positive review. On their own, Killers has positioned itself as clearly feminine and comedy for all ages, but with a radically different aroma Sex and the city 2. The Lionsgate film is raised as an option similar to Date Night, and sought the memory of his previous films lead actress, Katherine Heigl, The Ugly truth and 27 dresses.

The comedy star last week, Sex and the city in February, has fallen hard as expected. What makes an exaggerated 60% to $ 12.6 M and puts his total at $ 73m, 26 less than the previous film by now. Warner is unlikely to repeat the success of the previous movie, concerned by a terrible word of mouth and fierce competition. The film arouses the interest deducted from their followers and this suggests that jumps to $ 100M but little further.

The fourth release of the week has been the ill-fated Splice, independently of gender production fully dimensioned by Warner. The tape came out with 2.450 cinemas and surrounded by a positive review of some enthusiasm from the most fan of the genre. After its limited release on Friday, the upside is that does not sink during the Saturday, probably indicating an interesting response from the adult sector concerned by the proposal. Now the question is in the pull of recommendation, the element which should keep alive.

# TITULO Recaudación Descenso # Salas Prom/Salas Acmdo.
1 Shrek Forever After 25M$ -41% 4.386 $5.760 183M$
2 Get Him to the Greek
17,4M$

2.696 $6.400 17,4M$
3 Killers
16,1M$ 2.859 $5.300 16,1M$
4 Prince of Persia 13,9M$ -53% 3.646 $4.168 59,5M$
5 Sex and the City 2 12,6M$ -60% 3.445 $3.775 73,4M$
Jack Rico

By

2010/06/06 at 12:00am

‘Sex and the City 3’: A Trilogy or a Tragedy?

06.6.2010 | By |

'Sex and the City 3': A Trilogy or a Tragedy?

Sex and the City’ has been nothing short of a phenomenon.  From the onset, the series, the girls and the city they lived in was an immediate hit, drawing millions of viewers to HBO, later TBS and now the Box Office. The draw is one that is still strong today 12 years later.  Proof of this can be seen on Perry Street in the West Village, where one is almost guaranteed to see fans, mostly young and middle aged women, posing in front of a chained-off townhouse with a sign reading “NO TRESPASSING”.

After some deconstruction of the phenomenon,  I believe it really boils down to 3 things: fabulousity, nostalgia and hope.

You can say whatever you want about the recent movie ‘Sex and the City 2’ … but one thing is for sure is that the power of the brand remains strong.  

So strong that I agree with Sarah Jessica that they should complete the trilogy with a third and final run.

My advice to her though is to remember the three things that made you.
1- Fabulousity. We want fabulousity but we want it to feel real. Abu Dhabi was fun, but in hindsight the Hamptons may have been more authentic.  
2- Nostalgia.  Tap into this powerful emotion, but do it remembering to be relevant today.  Why did we relate? who did we relate to? But keep it real. Don’t go over the top with the characters and don’t forget the times.
3- Hope. Here you have been nailing it.  At the end of the day, whatever twists and turns life puts in front of Carrie and her posse… they survive and thrive, holding their cosmos in bejeweled hands.

So here is to the final ‘Sex and the City 3.’  One with “NO TRESPASSING”.

Carrie Bradshaw's 'Apartment'

SBC Staff

By

2010/06/04 at 12:00am

Killers (Movie Review)

06.4.2010 | By |

Killers

First thought: What the heck did I just watch? This movie has a multiple personality disorder, it doesn’t know if it wants to be a romantic-comedy or an action/adventure film. It tries to be well rounded by attempting to fulfill all these genres but it fails terribly.

The story is about Jen (Katherine Heigl) and Spencer (Ashton Kutcher). They meet in Nice, France, the beautiful French Riviera gives birth to their romance. Jen is on vacation with her parents Mr. & Mrs. Kornfeldt (Tom Selleck & Catherine O’Hara) who are extremely quirky; the dad is a control freak and the mom is drunk all the time. Spencer being a professional assassin is there on a mission. They have a cheesy first date where we are supposed to believe there are sparks, because Spencer quits his secret life to settle down and live the normal suburban life he’s dreamed of with Jen. 3 years down the line Jen abruptly finds out about Spencer’s secret life and they become fugitives running for their lives. In this journey they find out their lives and friends were not what they thought them to be and it comes to an awkward and sudden end.

If you dreamed of ever seeing Kutcher speaking French and being shirtless at the same time, your dream has come true. Kutcher carries the movie on his shoulders, which is not necessarily a good thing. I was surprised to actually like him in the action scenes, that’s to say the least of his acting skills though. Heigl’s character could not get any more annoying, she’s a spoiled rich girl that whines for most of the movie.

This movie simply isn’t entertaining enough to make it worth your while, it has very few funny moments and the only good scenes are the ones where there are fights. Not even the dark humor helps it and although they try hard to keep us in suspense the predictability is what over kills it.

Jack Rico

By

2010/06/04 at 12:00am

Splice (Movie Review)

06.4.2010 | By |

Splice

‘Splice,’ is in this critic’s opinion, one of the worst, if not arguably the worst movie of 2010. There are so many wrong things with it on so many levels I don’t even know where to begin. Actually, I do know where to begin. Let’s start with the plotline that Warner Bros. has up on their press website for the film:

Superstar genetic engineers Clive (Adrien Brody) and Elsa (Sarah Polley) specialize in splicing DNA from different animals to create incredible new hybrids. Now they want to use human DNA in a hybrid that could revolutionize science and medicine. But when the pharmaceutical company that funds their research forbids it, Clive and Elsa secretly take their boldest experimentation underground — risking their careers by pushing the boundaries of science to serve their own curiosity and ambition. The result is Dren, an amazing, strangely beautiful creature of uncommon intelligence and an array of unexpected physical developments. At first, Dren (spelled ‘NERD’ backwards, wink, wink). exceeds their wildest dreams. But as she grows and learns at an accelerated rate, her existence threatens to become their worst nightmare.

The story sounds compelling and gripping, piquing ones interest of the outcome. Regrettably, when you finish experiencing this disjointed effort, the results are baffling and incomprehensible. There are numerous leaps of logic – instances when the protagonists act in a fashion that only characters in a comedy would. It’s as if the screenwriters wanted to hammer home how idiotic these scientists really are. Ultimately, our heroes actions in the second act are aberrations of consistent implausibilities.

The character of Elsa played by Sarah Polley is a vexing figure who is pigheaded, ambitious and arrogant. She’s not a likable character, you don’t root for her but rather against her. Her behavior towards volatile situations and tense moments are obtuse and supercilious. Brody on the other hand is cautious, correct in his ways, but eventually turns out to be a milksop of a man who lets his unstable woman take charge of critical situations and of his morals. The movie finally collapses when several Freudian occurrences transpire without any rhyme or reason. I can only describe them as some of the most preposterous, unlikely and outrageous twists I have seen in movies (‘Orphan’ by Spaniard director Jaume Collet-Serra comes a close second).

The fright horror we were putatively in for was diminished to only special effects editing and dimwitted risible scenes of absurdity, nothing more. Not once was I scared (unlike The Strangers or The House of The Devil recently). I kept placing my hands on my face, but in disbelief for the inanity unfolding before my very eyes. The trailer is partly the culprit. It misleads us into expecting a flat out terror film full of suspense building sequences matched with high-intense graphics. Rather, it delivers a science fiction drama of the likes of Species, to be exact. Horror is only a secondary thought here.

Guillermo Del Toro served as a producer and did a descent job in creating Dren and most of the special effects with the budgets he was provided. Director Vincenzo Natali shot a beautifully dark and mysterious production that is visually appealing, but the payoff is painful not only to the viewing experience but to the pocket as well. If you can, stay away from this film, unless you want to see how bad it is. That sometimes happens to me too.

Jack Rico

By

2010/06/04 at 12:00am

Get Him to the Greek (Movie Review)

06.4.2010 | By |

*Updated 2026

In 2026, when celebrity chaos is content and addiction stories land differently, Get Him to the Greek plays as a music-industry comedy with more bite than its party surface suggests.

Read More

Jack Rico

By

2010/06/03 at 12:00am

Marmaduke (Movie Review)

06.3.2010 | By |

Marmaduke

When I was a kid I used to watch ‘Marmaduke’ on Saturday morning cartoons. This film adaptation is not as entertaining as the former, but nevertheless kids should have a frolicking time with it. Marmaduke is not meant to entertain adults, it’s for children who are 7-10 years old or even tweens at 12-14. So any grown men and women who go to see this film need to understand that the gags and dance moves from these dogs are meant for infants. If you enjoy kids movies, more power to you.

The plot. A suburban family moves to a new neighborhood with their large yet lovable Great Dane, who has a tendency to wreak havoc in his own oblivious way.

This is one of those few cat and dog movies where humans take a back seat to them. I would say it is 80% animals 20% humans. There is hardly any acting from real people in this film, which is why you can’t really knock the acting because there barely is any. Most of the work comes from the voices of Owen Wilson, Emma Stone, George Lopez and Kiefer Sutherland. I thought Owen fit the personality of the star dog perfectly. Lopez I think is always hilarious with the stereotypical Mexican accent as Marmaduke’s cat friend.

The situational comedy in the movie is modestly fun and you can tell director Tom Dey (“Failure to Launch”) makes something of an effort to make it likable. Overall, Marmaduke is what it is – a project using a familiar American brand name to make some money from it. Did it work? Not enough for me to tell you to run to the theater to see it. This is definitely a DVD property.

Namreta Kumar

By

2010/06/02 at 12:00am

Raajneeti (Movie Review)

06.2.2010 | By |

Raajneeti

Raajneeti is a lengthy and problematic film. Although it tried to read like a modern Mahabharat, it ends up being a poor man’s version of The Great Indian Novel (by Shashi Tharoor).

 

For starters if you have no interest in politics don’t watch the film for the hype of the star-studded performance. No one truly shines with a solid performance, anyway. For the solid list of character actors the film is predicated on, not one character elicits enough sympathy within the audience. This may be because of the base problem in the script itself: everyone seems to either be playing multiple characters from the Mahabharat or the principal motivations have all been skewed bordering on disbelief.

 

Furthermore without a working knowledge of the Mahabharat it is rather difficult to follow the film. And if you have anything greater than a working knowledge you are sure to be disappointed by the bullet point version of the story. In trying to make a modern retelling Rajneeti lost both the original and the modern. Some of the language will definitely be lost on those who are not Hindi scholars and the rest to those who know little English.

 

Don’t look towards the music to be of any help either. Traditionally Bollywood film length and drama has been broken by the musical song and dance, Rajneeti has one ill placed and rather short rendition. Unfortunately the background score doesn’t win this film any favors either, as it is over dramatic and reclaims the scene for itself.

 

Stripped down to its core the film lacks proper development, however it does make the audience think. If it is true that you learn more from mistakes than success, this film forces everyone who watches it to think about story and character as by products of one another. The best thing about Rajneeti is its literary challenge and that isn’t saying much, considering the other films coming out of India today.

Jack Rico

By

2010/05/28 at 12:00am

George Romero Deconstructs Zombie Films

05.28.2010 | By |

Meeting George A. Romero was among one of my many highlights in this profession. As a fan of the zombie and horror genres, I sat down with the 6’4 man who is arguably the creator of the zombie films. Read More

Karen Posada

By

2010/05/27 at 12:00am

Sex and the City 2 (Movie Review)

05.27.2010 | By |

*Updated December 2025

They werent kidding when they said sparkle. Sex and the City 2 was completely extravagant and exaggerated, which is what in a way made it fun. This movie does more justice to the series than the original movie did. Read More

Jack Rico

By

2010/05/27 at 12:00am

A Man’s Perspective on ‘Sex and the City’

05.27.2010 | By |

A Man’s Perspective on 'Sex and the City'

Note: This article is filled with spoilers. It has in mind the person who saw the sequel. 

I had the chance to see the heavily anticipated screening of ‘Sex and the City 2’ a few days before its release in theaters nationwide. Just so you know, I am a fan of the show since its pilot debut on HBO in the summer of 1998 when the characters used to talk to the camera and men were bashing women. Since then, I’ve been hooked and have followed our four voyagers through the ups and downs of their lives – which is why the two SATC movies have crushed my expectations of what could have been – and am nauseating at a possible third installment.

If you remember, the success of the series was rooted in the most truthful deconstruction of us men to date; from how they REALLY felt about us through love, sex and relationships, to the usage of foul language to describe us. It was truly art imitating life. What about all those Romeo tactics we thought we were getting away with? Those too were microscopically analyzed and ravaged. These truths were so dead on about us guys, that it made me, as well as most men, tune in every week to learn more of us from the most poignant source, the only thing that mattered in the world – women. It was obsessively fascinating, it hit a chord that has had its strings pulled out with these uninventive story lines.

The two films in question lack the ‘sparkle’ that made men call each other at night and ask, “dude, is that what they really say when we put our pants back on?” In the original movie, the writer/director Michael Patrick King didn’t forget the testosterone, but he left out the fantasy and fun from it. It was depressing. The four characters were supposed to bitch, moan and vent about us all while using pithy humour, harsh irony and unrelenting wit. Instead he had the ladies inhabit a world we had never seen them in – reality. It was too real for them and us. Enter the repairing sequel – forget about reality, welcome the outrageous and the absurdity. King went the other extreme now. He left out the testosterone and brought in an extra truck load of estrogen, literally, just ask Samantha. By creating this female drenched story, he left us, the true fans of the original Sex and the City television series, out to dry. Don’t kid yourselves ladies, the show was a hit because us men were tuning in like they had solved the mystery behind penile enlargement or something. If they ever do a part three… oh no… for the love of us fans, I beg the producers, don’t do it! Don’t you dare do it! Why? Well, you left us straight men out of it and dedicated it to all things gay. A mix of both would’ve been fine. But to be explicitly frank, the magical and honest writing just isn’t there anymore and our protagonists are starting to finally show their graceful age. Even though they are fit and muscular, part of the fantasy is where they stay in their 30s’ and early 40’s forever. Take for instance Liza Minnelli. Her performance cover of Beyonce’s ‘Single Ladies’ was admirable for 64, but nevertheless a bit sad. At some point, you have to call it quits and be elegant on your way out. We’ll all remember you for the great times, never the bad ones.  As an example of uninspired writing, take Sarah Jessica Parker’s character Carrie Bradshaw. She is once again confused about her life and she’s what…48, closing in on 50 in the show? By this time, she, or anyone for that matter, should have a resounding sense of what they want and what kind of partner they want. It baffles me that the writers are still, after 12 years, making her seem naiveté (going to dinner with Aiden fully knowing what he had in mind), ungrateful (never being thankful with what she has with BIG, the moments of simplicity just aren’t good enough for her), mentally fragile (her need to constantly go out to forget she is aging, and almost ruining everyone else’s trip because her New Yorker review on her latest book “I Do or Do I?” was a flop). Carrie, you need to get your sh*t together. You have a great life, stop complaining for everything. You really are a walking representation of the old cliché – you don’t know what you have until you lose it.

For those of you that just want the characters to live forever, I suggest a reboot with a new crop of bevy beauties casted with Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Lindsay Lohan and Isla Fisher. This would make everyone happy and the new younger generation of SATC fans can feel what we all felt when the typed words of ‘Once upon a time…” began this crazy and wonderful ride we call ‘Sex and the City.’

Would love to hear your thoughts. Leave your comments below.

Select a Page